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First planting of the year

As a novice gardener, and by novice I mean I have yet to successfully start or keep anything growing for any length of time, my excitement is tempered but still high. A couple of weeks ago we started some seeds inside as the never ending cold grey sky, and rains beat down on us. During that time I built a couple of raised beds in the back yard, added a mixture of reclaimed dirt from a neighbor’s patio project and our growing compost pile from behind the house. The beds look dark and rich and the worms are plentiful. Even with my limited knowledge of the whole process I think we are off to a good start. Enthusiasm is high, and willingness to learn will help us build on this start. I have been keeping a journal of what we have purchased and what we have done so I can see what we learn and if we saved anything with the garden. While saving is a big part of the garden, the whole process is bigger than just money. Growing our own food, working with the boys to accomplish building the beds and tending the garden, learning how food grows and having a tangible connection to what we eat play an even bigger part.

So today Segundo and I made little holes and planted the starts in the beds. We watered the fledgeling veggies and hoped for the best. We have Snap Peas, Beets, Carrots, Chard, Squash, Cucumber, Tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, and Zucchini going in the first bed and we will start the second bed a little later to stagger the harvest. I’m excited to see how the garden grows and to share in the tending with the boys through out the summer. There are lessons there worth learning for all of us, and I think we are all looking forward to learning them.

Our growing season in Ontario starts a little later than yours. I’m starting some seeds indoors today. Looks like you’re trying the square foot method, too. Have fun.

James

david_hammar

04/09/2011 at 7:32 am

Great! I’ve been doing a garden (organic, which means more time-consuming but has its own benefits) with my kids since they were tiny and you are right: there are *many* life lessons to be learned. Good luck with it!

Violetsouffle

04/09/2011 at 7:33 am

Oh YUM. Am very jealous. We live in a big apartment in the city and have no yard, but we do (ok, I) keep plants on the patio. We could never grow much there as it’s barely 3ft wide and maybe 4th long, so I have to be very creative. My biggest issue with it all is bugs tend to be very abundant here so I’m actually strongly consisting buying lizards to set free on our patio&hope they stick around to nip those pesky plant eating bugs right up. We have: 2blueberry bushes, mints, basil, tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers (they do well on our patio railing!) strawberries, stevia plants, and carrots. Each pot grows several vegetables so say carrots and bell peppers in one pot. I know it not ideal but I want my kid to see food growing, and be involved in nurturing it-later when we have a house she can learn ‘proper’ gardening.